The invention relates to an astragal that would be attached to the inactive door of a double door unit that would be installed in a residence or a building, and more specifically to a locking assembly that would be installed in the astragal.
The use of locking assemblies in the prior art astragals is well known because the need to lock the inactive door when its use is not required. The prior art locking assemblies have not been entirely satisfactory since some of them are hard to grip the actuating member. Also it has been unnecessarily difficult to move the carriage assembly from its locked position with its locking bolt in full extension and its retracted position with its locking bolt completely disengaged. Often times it is hard to recognize the actuating structure for locking the carriage assembly in its extended position that prevents the inactive door from being opened.
It is an object of the invention to provide a novel locking assembly for an astragal that has a fingergrip flange that makes it easier to slide the carriage assembly upwardly and downwardly between its locked and unlocked position.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a novel locking assembly for an astragal that has a more visible lock actuating member that is quickly recognizable.
It is another object of the invention to provide a novel locking assembly for an astragal that has eliminated recesses around the lock actuating member in which people previously gripping the lock actuating member would catch their fingers.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a novel locking assembly for an astragal that has structure for keeping the assembled lock body and index plate unit from popping apart during its insertion into the carriage member where when it is being removed therefrom
It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel locking assembly for an astragal that provides an audible signal indicating when the locking bolt is in its extended locked position and its retracted unlocked position.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a novel locking assembly for an astragal that is easily and quickly installed in the carriage member of an astragal.
The astragal that would be attached to the inactive door of a double door unit is normally a length of extruded aluminum material having a carriage member channel formed therein. The carriage member channel is configured with inwardly extending grooves adjacent the bottom ends of its side walls for receiving flanges formed adjacent the bottom end of the side walls of the carriage member. A carriage assembly is inserted into the top end of the carriage member channel and also into the bottom end of the carriage channel. Each of these carriage assemblies would be secured to the carriage member channel at its proper height so that where respective upwardly and its downwardly extending bolt member would be fully retracted when the inactive door of a double door unit is required to be opened.
Once the carriage assemblies have been secured in their proper position in the carriage member channel, they are ready for operation. By gripping the fingergrip flange on the lock body and pulling it in the direction away from the center of the height of the astragal, the lock body that has been secured in the carriage member will push the carriage assembly to its extended position that fits the locking bolt of the carriage assembly into the locking bolt receptacle either in the door header or the threshold member. At this point the lock knob will have traveled past the end of the rail extending upwardly from the index plate that was previously secured to the carriage member channel of the astragal. As the carriage member reaches its extended position, the angular point of the leaf spring will have been captured in the cavity in the bottom end of the tongue portion of the lock body will snap into the extreme notch formed in the top of the index plate produced an audible clicking sound that will indicate that it is in its locked position. At this time the lock knob can be turned 90 degrees which would prevent retraction of the carriage assembly. In order to unlock the inactive door, the lock knob is rotated 90 degrees back to its original position and the finger flange extending up from the lock body is gripped and pulled in the direction of the retracted position. When the carriage assembly is fully retracted, the angular point of the leaf spring will drop into the notch on the top of the index plate and produce an audible click sound indicating that the bolt has been fully retracted.